SLAS Discovery Author Insights

Recorded onsite at SLAS2023 in San Diego, California, podcast Editor Rob Howes speaks with Davide Gianni, Ph.D. (AstraZeneca) to learn more about Gianni's protocol paper, "A multi-parametric high throughput assay for detecting beta-cell proliferation in dispersed primary islets," published in Volume 28, Issue 2 of SLAS Discovery. Here Davide describes the development of a 384-well plate-based multi-parametric imaging assay designed to capture ex vivo primary islet proliferation, a known pathology related to Diabetes. The development of this assay allows for the positive identification of compounds that can selectively enhance islet beta-cell proliferation and reverse this known disease phenotype. For more information about SLAS Discovery, visit https://slas-discovery.org/

Welcome to the SLAS Discovery Author Insights podcast! Today we are joined by Antonia Turberville and Geoffrey A. Holdgate to discuss their recent perspective article titled "A perspective on the discovery of enzyme activators". This article sheds light on the largely under-explored area of enzyme activation in drug discovery. Despite the successful application of enzyme activators in various therapeutic interventions, the field remains under-represented and poorly exploited. Antonia and Geoffrey delve into the challenges of hit identification for enzyme activation, as well as their perspectives on the approaches needed to overcome these challenges in early drug discovery. Antonia and Geoffrey provide valuable insights into some of the issues and opportunities in enzyme activation, which can be useful for researchers in the field. Join us as we explore this exciting area of drug discovery and gain insights from our experts in the field! Click here to read the latest articles in SLAS Discovery.

Traditionally, SLAS Discovery has focused on publishing original research papers and reviews. With the introduction of this latest special issue, the journal is expanding its scope to include protocol articles. These articles are designed to provide a detailed, step-by-step guide to a particular experimental technique or methodology, enabling other researchers to replicate the work and build upon it. In this episode, we spoke with one of the special issue Guest Editors, Adam Zweifach, Ph.D. (University of Connecticut), to explore the benefits of protocol articles, how they differ from traditional research papers, and the impact they could have on the field of life drug discovery and greater SLAS scientific community. As the new Protocol Editor of the journal, Dr. Zweifach welcomes feedback on the protocol format. Come share your idea for a Protocol at the SLAS booth at SLAS2023, or get in touch with SLAS journals online at publishing@slas.org. Click here to read the latest articles in SLAS Discovery.

Tune in to this special episode of SLAS Discovery Author Insights, recorded onsite at SLAS Europe in Dublin, Ireland. Join podcast Editor Rob Howes as he chats with Jonathan Wingfield, Ph.D. (AstraZeneca UK) about the return to in-person meetings, his experience working as a global researcher, and his latest research projects and collaborations. Learn about his journey from a start in microbiology and academia, and his path leading to a role as Principal Scientist at AstraZeneca with a focus on automation and technology. Jonathan is currently serving as Secretary on the SLAS Board of Directors. For more information about SLAS Discovery, visit https://slas-discovery.org/ .

Tune in to this special episode of SLAS Discovery Author Insights, which was recorded onsite at SLAS Europe in Dublin, Ireland. Join podcast Editor Rob Howes as he chats with Timothy Spicer, Ph.D. (Scripps Florida) about his myriad roles within SLAS as President, Associate Editor, volunteer, and even author. Hear more about his journey to becoming SLAS President, his significant contributions to SLAS Discovery, as well as his latest research and collaborations. For more information about SLAS and its journals, visit www.slas.org/publications

Volume 27 Issue 3, April 2022 Behind April's Special Issue: Join podcast host Rob Howes (Rosalind Franklin Laboratory) as he invites Guest Editor Glauco Souza (Greiner Bio-One) to discuss the special issue covering 3D Cell Culture. They cover the timeliness of this issue as the world recovers from a global pandemic that revealed the need for more realistic and predictive in vitro models for biology, as well as the demand for more efficient technologies as researchers catch up on their benchwork after global slowdowns. They will review the many articles in the special issue, and how each uniquely contributes to the advancement of novel 3D drug discovery techniques. Tune in to learn about how researchers are using these tools to maximize throughput, reproducibility, and control in their work. Read the open access special issue: 3D Cell Culture Approaches of Microphysiologically Relevant Models For more information about SLAS and its journals, visit www.slas.org/publications.

SLAS Discovery Editor-in-Chief Bob Campbell (Twentyeight-seven Therapeutics) welcomes Sarine Markossian, Ph.D. (National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (NCATS)) and G. Sitta Sittampalam, Ph.D. (National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (NCATS)) to discuss the research featured in the latest Special Issue of SLAS Discovery. Titled “Assay Guidance Manual for Drug Discovery: Robust or Go Bust”, this issue showcases the incorporation of best practices in early research stages to improve the efficiency and reliability of the drug discovery process. Much of the research featured in this issue is authored by instructors of the AGM workshops: Assay Guidance Workshops for High-throughput Screening and Lead Discovery. The goal of these combined publications is to tackle the crisis of reproducibility in biomedical science by utilizing rigorous data analysis reporting standards and robust assays. The Assay Guidance Manual is a free and publicly available eBook of best practices for the design, development, and implementation of robust assays in preclinical research. For more information about the journal, visit the SLAS Discovery website or contact Dr. Campbell directly at editorcampbell@slas.org.

Join Jill Hronek, SLAS Director of Marketing and Communications, and Ally Jump, SLAS Publishing Manager, as they speak with SLAS Discovery and SLAS Technology’s respective Editors-in-Chief, Robert M. Campbell, Ph.D., (Twentyeight-Seven Therapeutics, Boston, MA USA) and Edward Kai-Hua Chow, Ph.D., (National University of Singapore, Singapore) about SLAS’s new Open Access model for the Society’s two peer-reviewed journals. Beginning January 1, 2022 both SLAS Discovery and SLAS Technology will be available Open Access and through a new publisher, Elsevier. Tune in to have your questions answered about all things publishing and open access and hear what other exciting things the SLAS publishing team has in store for the new year. Check out our SLAS Open Access FAQs and Elsevier Open Access Agreements to see if your institution covers publishing costs!

Podcast Editor Rob Howes chats with Geoffrey A. Holdgate, Ph.D. (AstraZeneca) and Christian Bergsdorf, Ph.D. (Novartis), Guest Editors of the Special Collection: Applications of Biophysics in Early Drug Discovery. This special collection explores the use of biophysical methods in the identification and characterization of molecules in early drug discovery. The biophysical methods toolbox be applied to complement traditional biochemical approaches in research including early assay development and high-throughput screening. For more information about SLAS and its journals, visit www.slas.org/publications.

Volume 26 Issue 7, August 2021 Podcast Editor Rob Howes chats with Jayme L. Dahlin, MD, Ph.D. (National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (NCATS)), Guest Editor of the Special Collection: Approaches for Prioritizing High-Quality Chemical Matter in Chemical Probe and Drug Discovery. This Special Issue of SLAS Discovery discusses the art and science of identifying high-quality chemical matter in screening, to avoid diverting lab resources and flawed findings. For a more in-depth look into this issue, join Dahlin on September 16 at 9:00 a.m. CDT as he and additional special collection authors discuss their research. Learn more.

Volume 26 Issue 4, April 2021 Podcast Editor Rob Howes discusses the SLAS Discovery Special Issue on Advances in Protein Degradation with guest editors Paola Castaldi and Stewart Fisher. Targeted protein degradation has generated interest within the drug discovery arena due to the inhibition of one particular function of a protein not often delivering the successful results that comes from whole-protein depletion. This Special Issue of SLAS Discovery provides a useful overview of rapidly developing field, and is essential reading for those pursuing targeted protein degradation drug discovery programs. For more information about SLAS and its journals, visit www.slas.org/publications.

Volume 25 Issue 2, February 2021 Podcast Editor Rob Howes chats with Marie-Claire Peakman, Ph.D. (Executive Director, Discovery Sciences, Pfizer), author of the featured paper "Selecting Approaches for Hit Identification and Increasing Options by Building the Efficient Discovery of Actionable Chemical Matter from DNA-Encoded Libraries" in the SLAS Discovery 2021 February Special Issue Hit Discovery Methodology with Guest Editors Mark Wigglesworth and Peter Hodder. This Special Issue of SLAS Discovery presents the topic Hit Discovery Methodology which highlights the use of existing and progressive technologies in Hit Discovery and how these technologies may be combined to generate vital hits for drug discovery.

SLAS Discovery 25.10 December 2020 Rob Howes discusses the paper "High-Throughput Screening for Drugs That Inhibit Papain-Like Protease in SARS-CoV-2" with authors Meredith Gardner (Scripps Research) and Michael Farzan (Scripps Research). This research is part of the December Special Issue, Drug Discovery Targeting COVID-19 with Associate Editor Tim Spicer.

Volume 25 Issue 7, August 2020 Podcast Editor Rob Howes talks with author Seungil Kim about his Open Access original research, "Comparison of Cell and Organoid-Level Analysis of Patient-Derived 3D Organoids to Evaluate Tumor Cell Growth Dynamics and Drug Response," a paper within the August 2020 SLAS Discovery Joint Special Issue with the Society for Biomolecular Imaging and Informatics: High-Content Imaging and Informatics.

Volume 25 Issue 6, July 2020 Podcast Editor Rob Howes discusses the SLAS Discovery 2020 July Special Issue with Guest Editors Davide Gianni and Stuart Farrow. This Special Issue of SLAS Discovery presents the topic “Functional Genomics for Target Identification” and is focused on three strategic pillars that form the foundation of the functional genomics discipline. Articles span a variety of relevant topics, from the development of more translatable models of diseases to the creation of validated screening libraries, technologies and computational pipelines to perturb gene function and enable quantitative interpretation of screening outputs.

Volume 25 Issue 5, June 2020 Podcast Editor Rob Howes discusses the SLAS Discovery 2020 June Special Collection with SLAS Discovery Editorial Board Member Joseph G. McGivern. To read the editorial by Joseph G. McGivern and Mei Ding, click here. This Special Collection of SLAS Discovery presents a special collection reflecting recent advances and continuing challenges in the development and application of assay technologies that are applicable to drug discovery for ion channel targets.

Volume 25 Issue 2, February 2020 Podcast Editor Rob Howes discusses the SLAS Discovery 2020 February Special Issue with Martin Main and Andrew Zhang. To read their editorial, click here. In this Special Issue of SLAS Discovery, the authors explore multiple aspects of cellular target engagement; from direct measurement of compound-target interaction using BRET technologies, through measurement of compound induced changes in protein stability and localisation, to in vivo drug distribution and target engagement studies. They also highlight technologies that enable a more holistic view of target engagement by mapping multiple compound-protein interactions in a single study. When applied in combination, these methods can build a strong platform of evidence linking compound to target to biological response, thereby impacting project attrition and medicines discovery success.

Robert M. Campbell, Ph.D., is Senior Research Advisor at Eli Lilly and Company in Indianapolis, IN, where he heads the Cancer Cell Growth and Epigenetics Group. Dr. Campbell has served as Editor-in-Chief of SLAS Discoveryfor the past 12 years, where he has been a vital leader to grow the journal and share its important content. In this podcast, Dr. Campbell talks with our SLAS Discovery Podcast Editor Rob Howes, Ph.D. (AstraZeneca Gothenburg, Sweden) to discuss his work with the journal, as well as a little history about SLAS and the journal, and to make a call to authors and readers about upcoming content and his interest to work with listeners to publish and share their work. For more about Dr. Bob Campbell, read his ELN member profile article, Drum Roll Please! For more information about the journal, visit the SLAS Discovery website or contact Dr. Campbell directly at editorcampbell@slas.org.